


Once Upon An Autumn Hill - Hiatus!

by GoldNerd



Category: Guardians of Childhood & Related Fandoms, Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: Best Friends, Blood and Violence, Brother-Sister Relationships, Deep Conversations, Fluff, Other, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-09
Updated: 2019-11-09
Packaged: 2021-01-25 19:33:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,236
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21361540
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GoldNerd/pseuds/GoldNerd
Summary: It's been 3 years since the battle with Pitch, everything is finally at peace. As Jack is flying around doing a bit of mischief while spreading some chill he meets a young lady. He's added another member to his little family. Things aren't all peaceful though when an old and new foe rises. The past shows its ugly head and the Guardians must find a way to deal with all these new enemies. Thankfully Jack is making more friends along the way.THIS STORY IS ON HOLD!
Relationships: Brother-Sister, Family - Relationship
Kudos: 4





	1. Meeting Someone New

**Author's Note:**

> Alright, I know that stories with an author's own character aren't always the best, but I had an awesome idea I wanted to try writing! This isn't going to be some ROTG Character x Reader/OC story though! More of a family bonding one. I hope you continue reading my story and decide for yourself if it is good or not.
> 
> (Also, later on in the story there _will_ be graphic descriptions of violence and injuries.)__

It's a typical day in Burgess as fall has finally arrived. Kids are excited about Halloween coming up and adults are already tired from the chilly weather. Jack flies around, his striking white hair moving as he jumps and flies from place to place, bringing a chill to everyone walking that day. He laughs when he sees an adult shivering as they're walking to work without a jacket and smiles when a few children point up towards him as he flies by. He decided to go out today to stem his boredom from doing nothing up at the North Pole. He's stayed there most of the time since Spring came. It's been 3 years after the big battle with Pitch and things have been peaceful since then. Jamie and his friends have all started middle school, and while they are growing older their belief hasn't wavered a single bit. Unfortunately that means they've been more busy with school so Jack has more free time on his hands.

Jack, just having arrived back in Burgess from bringing a chill to other places, flies by his pond when he picks up on a person's voice. As Jack flies around with the wind by his side he hears the voice softly speaking. He flies downward towards it and he peaks around some bushes when he sees a young lady, she looks to be around 19 years old. Her short, wavy, rose red hair stands out on her blushed, pale face, and among the coloring leaves and the barren trees. Her glowing emerald eyes stand out as well, they look like they belong on an older person's face, not a young 19 year old girl. He notices she's wearing a tan blazer, a coral top-with what looks to be white hearts on it, a black belt like corset, brown shorts, matching brown finger-less gloves, stockings with a gradient from coral to orange, a black choker, and brown boots. She's herding some squirrels towards a small, abandoned shack nearby. He goes to turn around to leave her in peace when a branch snaps under his foot. Quickly turning back around he notices her staring at him.

"You can see me?" Jack whispers. He wasn't expecting this young lady to be able to see him. 

"Should I not be able to?" She whispers back, appalled for some reason. "Also, why are we whispering? Are you hiding from somebody?" 

"No, I just...wasn't expecting someone at your age to still believe in spirits like me." 

"Spirits like...oh! Oh! You think I'm-!" She begins laughing. 

"What? Why are you laughing?" Jack asks bewildered. His eyes are wide and curious about this lady who can see him and is for some reason laughing about it. 

"Oh," she wipes tears from her emerald eyes, "because _Jack Frost_ I'm a spirit too."__

Jack pauses, wondering what spirit she must be that requires her here. Is she one of those unpleasant Autumn spirits? Maybe she works with the Groundhog or something like that. He's curious what a strange spirit like her is doing here, herding animals to a shack just beyond the town. 

"Are you just going to stand there? If so then I'll be on my way, I have some more work to do." She informs him as she stands up. 

"Hold on a second!" Jack shouts. "What type of spirit are you? What were you just doing there with the squirrels? Also, I never caught your name." 

"I didn't throw it," She deadpans, "but my name is Merripen, though most call me Autumn as it's much simpler. Coincidentally enough I'm an Autumn spirit," she mumbles the next part to herself, "though I think Manny just wanted some humor with my name. And I was just telling those squirrels to start gathering their food and directing them to hibernate in that shed nearby." She gestures towards the abandoned shack just a few yards away. 

Jack freezes. He was correct, she's an Autumn spirit. She's clearly not like the other ones, though looks can be deceiving. The other ones just torment him with cruel words and abuse him till they're bored. He wonders if she's talking to him to distract him, maybe the other spirits are around ready to jump him. Sure he has the Guardians to speak with, but he's always up for making new friends or at the very least being able to talk to other spirits without turning black and blue. He gets ready to shoot upwards into the sky, paranoid he'll be attacked, when Merripen notices his tense posture. 

"Wait a minute dude! Don't fly off just yet!" She squints and looks him in the eye when she sees him grip his staff tightly, clearly on edge. She thinks back on what she said, remembering the way he tensed when she mentioned being an Autumn spirit. "No way," she gasps as it hits her, "those pesky Autumn sprites are still bugging you?!" 

"W-Wait, you know about them?" Jack wonders how she knew that, even the guardians haven't noticed. Though he shows up to their meetings with one or two foot shaped bruises on his face. To be fair he always makes sure his hood is up. He can't let them know how incapable he really is. _That he can't even defend himself against other, smaller spirits._

_ _"Hell yeah I know! They work under me, I'm essentially their manager! I told them to lay off when I heard them speak cockily about beating you up. It's not right of them and I personally apologize for their behavior. They shouldn't be taking out their frustrations or insecurities on you, nonetheless even thinking of harming another being who's living and just doing their job!" Merripen's face turns a dark shade of red in her anger and frustration. _ _

_ _"Oh...Well, thank you for telling them off. At least someone notices something is wrong." Jack mumbles. Despite knowing the guardians are busy and he tries to hide his injuries, it still hurts that none of them even noticed something off with him. He even had a limp for a few days! _ _

_ _"The guardians aren't aware of anything happening? Have you told them or have they just not noticed anything wrong?" She's concerned, either way this isn't good. Who knows how long Jack has hidden injuries or dire situations from them. She recognizes the fear of rejection in his eyes, it reminds her of the very same eyes she had back when she was just a human. _ _

_ _"Both...I just don't want to worry them you know? They're all so busy with their jobs and whatnot and this is such a minor thing. I can deal with this, it's no big deal just a few bruises and harsh words here and there." He's starting to ramble. She notices how he's fidgeting with his staff and how frost is spreading across the decaying grass. _ _

_ _"Jack. Listen to me for a moment please." She sits down on the grass pressing her back into a tree. She pats the ground next to her as she stares at Jack, clearly wishing to speak more with him. Her face has gone soft yet there's a hard edge to it. _ _

_ _Jack pauses and takes a breath. Looking towards the red-haired spirit he realizes he's been rambling this whole time. Feeling embarrassed enough he decides to just sit down next to Merripen and take another breath as she begins to speak. _ _

_ _"Jack, listen, I understand not wishing to worry your friends, family even, but the thing about close friends and family is that they're there to support you. They stay with you because they care and love you. You telling them about the burdens you carry or things happening in your life that are harming you isn't going to make them walk away or think negatively of you. If they do then you know they aren't truly a part of your family. Family stays no matter what, hell, just talking with them about everyone's day is a normal thing!" She sighs deeply and her voice goes softer. "My point is, you needn't worry about these things. And I know simply saying this won't make your worries fade away, but I hope you take this all to heart and think about this conversation whenever you _do_ worry. Take this advice from a girl who's been through fake family and friends. You'll always know who will stay by your side when they listen to you no matter how small the topic is." ___ _

_ _ _Jack looked at the Autumn spirit as she got this far-away look in her eyes. The way she spoke about all this told him a lot, she didn't even need to mention anything about her own experience. He can tell just by her speaking that she's had experiences like this. Jack feels for her, he remembers when he was all alone with just the wind by his side. It seems like she never got to talk about things like this. He wonders if she found a family with the other Autumn spirits like he did with the Guardians, though by the conversation they had earlier it doesn't sound like they're even remotely friends. He pauses and thinks for a moment before an idea hits him.___

"Hey, come with me to the North Pole." Her head turns so fast he's almost concerned she got whiplash. 

"W-What?! What just came out of your mouth?" She looks appalled. 

"Come with me to North's workshop! North won't mind, besides I think you need to have some fun. You seem too down to be an Autumn spirit." 

"Why do you say that?" 

"Are you kidding me?! You have all these leaves you can make into piles to jump in! You carve pumpkins this time of year! Scare each other with costumes, pranks, and horror movies! You eat bunches of food and sip on nice warm drinks! While I love winter, it's the best season after all, I can appreciate the other seasons and their fun activities." He looks at her, understanding shown in his crystal blue eyes. 

Merripen puffs out a bit of air that shifts her bangs over to her right. She's contemplating whether or not she should go with Jack or just get back to work. Then she thinks of her non-stop workaholic attitude since she became a spirit. Finally deciding her choice she speaks up. 

"All right, just give me a second to send a message to General Fall and we'll go. He's my boss after all, can't have him wondering where one of his 'managers' have flown off to." She huffs but there's a clear smile on her face as she stands up. 

"Yeah!" Jack jumps into the air and fist-bumps.


	2. North's Workshop

Jack and Merripen have been flying from Burgess to the North Pole for a while now. Jack found out that Merripen can summon leaves to carry her, almost like wings, when she needs to fly. It's how she gets her jobs done so quick and efficiently. As they come into view of the workshop Jack notices that the Northern Lights are on.

"Oh no..." Jack pauses in the air for a second.

"What? What's the problem?" Merripen looks around confused as she too pauses in the air.

"The Northern Lights are on, something is wrong. Let's go!" Jack shoots forward towards North's workshop.

"Wha-! Jack wait up a second!" The Autumn spirit flies after him.

As they both fly into the workshop they see all the Guardians present. The expressions on their faces show their worries, something big has clearly happened. Jack flies over to them and asks about what occurred. As all the Guardians begin their vital discussion the Autumn spirit shifts backwards. Feeling out of place, she stands off to the side by the window she and Jack entered through. She's unsure she should even be here, clearly something has happened, but this is all the Guardians' business. Right as she's debating on flying out one of the Guardians speaks up.

"Oi Jack, who's your friend over there?" A huge rabbit that can only be the Easter Bunny points over to her. The Guardians all swivel around to stare at her, She shyly waves at them, slightly intimidated by the front they have when they're all gathered together.

"This is Merripen, an Autumn Spirit. She's a new friend of mine, I brought her here because I wanted to introduce her to everyone and get her to have a little fun. Though I wasn't expecting this situation to occur." Jack shrugs apologetically at her and she smiles slightly back.

"Well, it is always nice to meet more of Jack's friends. Unfortunately, now isn't the best of times. We have seen a new enemy coming after the children." North's face has a hard edge to it. Merripen turns her head as she notices the Sandman's pictures above his head, the other Guardians haven't taken notice of his frantic pointing and images as they've all turned back to their conversations. She turns her head up to look where he's pointing. The Man in the Moon... She nods her head towards Sandy as she tries to get the speaking Guardians to notice.

"Uh, excuse me? U-Uh you guys, Sandman is-" The Autumn spirit stops as she notices she's not being heard. She looks to Jack to find him and the Easter Bunny in a furious debate. "Well, that's no help." She huffs. 

She looks back over at Sandy as he's trying to grab an elf to get their attention. An idea hits her. She lifts up her right hand above her head, on her middle finger is a silver 2 part ring. There's a smaller ring on top of the base ring that can spin, it has roman numerals from 1 to 12 all around it while the base ring has some ornate details of barren branches. As she holds her hand above her head she spins the top ring and a silver-red glow comes from it, grabbing the Guardians' attention as they watch what appears to be a scythe form out of her ring. She spins her scythe around before holding it upright at her right side. It looks to be made entirely from a slightly decayed branch, the color has a dark brown-gray to it. At the top, on one side of the staff is a regular silver scythe blade while on the other side is a silver blade in the form of a diamond. Both are being held at their bases by smaller branches from the staff. In the center, also surrounded by smaller branches, is an old silver pocket watch with roman numerals.

"Thank you for your attention. Finally, anyway Sandman has been trying to tell you guys that the Man in the Moon is trying to speak to you all." She gets a nod from Sandy as thanks.

"Ah! Thank you Merripen!" North shouts, he turns his head up to MiM like the other Guardians have done. "Manny! What news have you brought for us?"

"I'm getting some deja vu here." Bunny mumbles.

All the Guardians and Merripen turn their heads to Manny as he directs his light onto the diamond in the floor with a large G in its center. In his light is Pitch's silhouette along with a young man's. A silhouette that the Autumn spirit currently floating above it recognizes instantly. She gasps as she backtracks towards the window again. She knows both those silhouettes, a spirit would be a fool if they didn't know Pitch Black. It's the other silhouette she's more concerned about. The Guardians all turned to look at her, curious about her reaction.

"Merri? What's wrong? Is this your first time seeing Pitch?" Jack looks concerned, he's takes a small step towards her.

"No, this is most definitely not my first encounter with anything to do with the Boogieman. It's the other silhouette I recognize and am concerned about." The others take notice of how she started to shiver. Jack looks concernedly towards the other Guardians, that did not sound good at all.

"Who is the other silhouette Merripen? How do you know this spirit?" Tooth floats closer to the Autumn spirit as she's getting concerned by the girl's shaking.

"He's no spirit he's just a human, but a human who can drive blades into other's chests without sorrow. Both figuratively and literally." Her eyes get a glazed look in them as the others all wonder what this human has to do with Pitch. Jack opens his mouth ready to question more about this guy when Manny's glow gets brighter. All the spirits look down again seeing Merripen's silhouette along with Jack's back to back with their staffs crossed in a yin and yang style with the Guardians next to them, weapons out. It looks like a united front, like the start of a battle, all fighting together as one big team.

"Wha-what? What does this all mean?" Merripen looks appalled just like most of the Guardians.

"It means that you must work together with us to defeat these foes before they cause havoc and harm among the children." North makes direct eye contact with her, it's unnerving. She's terrified, she stopped interacting with those two monsters when she died, and she stopped thinking about them all together when she became an Autumn spirit. She won't face _him_ again, he has no remorse in his body for what he did whilst she still lived nonetheless what he did when she died! She wished to forget all about the horrid memories he gave her, she's trying to move on, _why can’t they just let her move on?!___

_ __ _

_ __ _

"What if I don't want to work with you guys? Huh? What then?! I don't _want_ to get mixed up with that man or Pitch ever again! I'll do what I can to protect the kids but I refuse to go anywhere near that sociopath again!" She's huffing and tearing up by the end of her sentences, refusing to shed any tears as she begs in her head to never even look at those devils again. They've caused her enough pain. 

_ _ _ _ _ _"You must! We all have a responsibility to do, and Manny says you need to work with us, we need you to help us stop Pitch and this new enemy! You even know this new foe!" Tooth exclaims. Her eyes are wide, she clearly didn't expect such a negative reaction._ _ _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _ _"NO! Screw all of you! I get to have a choice! Just because the _oh so special_ Man in the Moon said I must help you guys doesn't mean I will!" She shoots up and out of the window, ignoring all of the calls of her name as she shoots forward towards General Fall's hidden coven for him and his sprites. Her tears finally fall as she notices how the wind is carrying her the rest of the way to the coven.___ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _"Thank you." Merripen whispers. She knows the wind mainly carries Jack, Wind has clearly taken a liking to him. She feels a caress of sorts on her head, knowing it's the Wind's way of comforting. The wind has always been there for her, even though she doesn't notice her most of the time. She lets her carry her back as she can finally cry out the tears that have been building up ever since the silhouettes showed._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _


End file.
